Muskegon firefighters give up pay raises to help city finances

Chronicle file photoMuskegon Fire Department firefighter Barry Searles works at the scene of a house fire in this 2008 file photo. Muskegon Professional Firefighters Local 370 has agreed to forego a 2.5 percent pay increase in 2010 to help the financially-strapped city. Muskegon firefighters have agreed to forego a pay increase in 2010 to help the financially-strapped city.

Muskegon Professional Firefighters Local 370 will not take the scheduled 2.5 percent pay increase for 2010. At the end the year, the 2.5 percent will be added to the firefighters’ base salary for future contract negotiations.

City Manager Bryon Mazade said the firefighter union’s decision will save the city $30,000.

City administration asked the firefighters union and the city’s clerical union to make concessions on previously agreed to pay hikes due to the city’s financial situation. The city budget is being squeezed by increased costs such as health care and substantial reductions in state revenues along with local property taxes and income taxes.

The clerical union, which is scheduled for a 1 percent pay increase in 2010, has yet to respond to the city’s request, Mazade said.

“The city asked and we took it to our membership,” Local 370 President Brian Hughes said. “We thought it was appropriate.”

By taking the pay increase at the end of the year, the base pay of Muskegon firefighters would not be harmed for future years, Hughes said. The contract with the 37-member union expires at the end of the year.

The city firefighters concessions come as the firefighters union in Muskegon Township agreed to a three-year labor contract at the end of 2009 calling for a pay freeze for 2010. That is expected to save the township $78,000 during the first year of the contract.

Muskegon Township has made a proposal to take over fire services in the city of Muskegon, just as Muskegon made similar proposals to Roosevelt Park and Muskegon Heights.

The city and firefighters face contract negotiations in a year when the talk of consolidation of fire services among local units of government has heated up. Hughes said his membership is open to the consolidation issue but that collective bargaining will make intergovernmental agreements difficult.